Things I Learned While Camping with a Toddler

We just returned from an amazing 4-day trip to Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan (with several fun day trips elsewhere around Lake Michigan).  I'll be posting a full trip report on Thursday, along with many more detailed posts to come about our adventures.  But while everything was still fresh in my mind, I wanted to share a few tips I learned last week about camping with a toddler.

1.) Baby wipes are your friend.  There wasn't really a place to bathe the little arrow at the campground, and it was far too cold for most of our trip to do so in the great outdoors.  So he took a lot of mini-baby-wipe baths.  I had wipes everywhere--in the camper, in the car, in my purse, near the fire, etc. And we needed lots of 'em.

The arrow snacking.

2.) Pack diaper rash cream.  What goes along with a lack of baths?  Diaper rash.  Fortunately I had packed it, but I don't always do that when we're away for a few days.  I'm so glad I did, because we battled a rash throughout the trip.

3.) Plan for a variety of temperatures.  I knew ahead of time from weather.com that our trip was going to start out warm and end cool.  I didn't plan on a 50-degree swing in temperatures, though, and the arrow (and us!) could have really used some warmer clothes (especially pajamas). In the pic to the right, he's wearing a size 6x kids sweatshirt (the smallest we could find at a nearby store!)

4.) There will be a lot of snacking going on.  From 3 p.m. on, the arrow wanted to eat pretty much every hour until bedtime.  I don't know if its all that fresh air or what, but he was constantly snacking.  Which was fine by me, because when he was snacking, he was contained in his high chair and not wandering to different campsites or teetering around the fire.

The arrow skipping his nap.

5.) Forget the schedule.  I'm a schedule person, and the arrow is usually on one.  But while we were camping, I found it best to just let sleep happen whenever.  One day he didn't take a nap.  One day he took two.  One night he went to bed right on time.  One night he stayed up really late.  Doesn't matter.  He was happy.

6.) Consider day trips.  We have always done this when camping, even before the arrow was born because we like to use our campsite as a home base for exploring other areas.  But I think its even more essential with a toddler.  I think he enjoyed relaxing in the car on the way to various destinations, staying warm inside some places, etc.  Everyone needs a break from the campsite, and few little mini-trips will help.

7.) Figure out where the closest retail store is in advance.  Without a doubt, you'll forget something or need something.  We almost traveled 30 minutes south looking for a Walmart type of place, when there was one five minutes north.  I should have looked that up ahead of time.

8.) Get a site somewhat near the playground.  Most campgrounds have a playground.  It's a nice option when you need to kill 20 minutes.  For us, it came in really handy when my husband was trying to pack everything up--I took the arrow to the playground so he could do so in peace.

9.) Cancel the noise.  The campground was full most of the weekend, and therefore pretty loud at times.  I was so glad we had electricity and the arrow could listen to his lullaby music at night and during naps.

The arrow snuggling by the fire.

10.) Find a travel guide/magazine/brochure for the surrounding area.  I did some research in advance and had written down some numbers and addresses.  But it was really helpful to pick up the local tourism magazine once we were there for a more robust info source.  Remember, camping = no internet.  Which is one of the beautiful things about it, in my opinion, but it also means the answer to every question might not be at your finger tips.  And while in our pre-arrow days, my husband and I had no problem aimlessly driving around in search of a restaurant or something to do, the arrow isn't quite as patient.

This post is a part of Top 10 Tuesday at Oh Amanda.

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